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McCulloch v. Maryland

(Encyclopedia)McCulloch v. Maryland, case decided in 1819 by the U.S. Supreme Court, dealing specifically with the constitutionality of a Congress-chartered corporation, and more generally with the dispersion of po...

Scopes trial

(Encyclopedia)Scopes trial, Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in public schools. A statute was passed (Mar., 1925) in Tennessee that prohibited the teaching in public schools of theories cont...

Dilke, Sir Charles Wentworth

(Encyclopedia)Dilke, Sir Charles Wentworth dĭlk [key], 1843–1911, British statesman. A radical leader in the Liberal party, he helped pass the parliamentary Reform Acts of 1884–85 as well as laws giving the mu...

calcareous soil

(Encyclopedia)calcareous soil kălkârˈēəs [key], soil formed largely by the weathering of calcareous rocks and fossil shell beds. Different varieties usually contain chalk, marl, and limestone and frequently a ...

casuistry

(Encyclopedia)casuistry kăzhˈyo͞oĭstrē [key] [Lat., casus=case], art of applying general moral law to particular cases. Although most often associated with theology (it has been utilized since the inception of...

Roth v. United States

(Encyclopedia)Roth v. United States, case decided in 1957 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Samuel Roth of New York City was convicted of mailing obscene materials. On appeal his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Cou...

recoilless rifle

(Encyclopedia)recoilless rifle, light artillery piece, without recoil, usually operated by two men. An American invention, it was used as an infantry weapon for attacking fortifications such as pillboxes and bunker...

Shrapnel, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Shrapnel, Henry shrăpˈnəl [key], 1761–1842, British general, inventor of the shrapnel shell. The shell, consisting of a steel case filled with bullets and an explosive charge, is fired in midair ...

Dunning, John, 1st Baron Ashburton

(Encyclopedia)Dunning, John, 1st Baron Ashburton, 1731–83, English jurist and politician. He attracted notice in 1762 by his written defense of the British East India Company merchants against their Dutch rivals....

Munn v. Illinois

(Encyclopedia)Munn v. Illinois, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1876. Munn, a partner in a Chicago warehouse firm, had been found guilty by an Illinois court of violating the state laws providing for the ...